[BreakABone]

Here is the second half of chapter 1... I hope.

Life can come at you in a fever pitch or it can slowly creep by you. In this case, life seemed to be playing some evil trick on Aladuf and Flunkie. Five minutes, five measly minutes now seemed like an eternity.

They had just hung up the phone. On the other end was HIM, yeah that him. He told them that he would be arriving at their residence in exactly 5 minutes. Now, if it was anyone else the 5 minutes would not concern them. But HIM of all people HIM!.

There was gossip and rumors that he had made a few house calls in his days but even those were rare and the last noted one was over a decade ago. Then there was the other talk, about his other house visits. When those visits occurred however, the home owner was hardly ever seen again. They hoped and prayed it was not that type of a visit.

They both came to the same conclusion that it wasn't that type of visit. Why would he call ahead to give up the element of surprise? Perhaps, he was so confident in his ability that he felt kind of cocky and wanted the challenge. But they had to erase that thought from their mind. There was no way he was coming to visit them for that reason. They had flown under the radar for so long.

They looked at the clock. Only a minute. Only a single minute had passed but the thoughts continued racing through their heads.

It was Flunkie who finally decided to break the silence, "What do you think he wants with us?"

"I really wish I knew," was all the reply Aladuf could muster.

Aladuf began twindling his thumb, while Flunkie decided time would pass faster if he stared at the door. He stared for what seemed like forever until he glanced at the clock and realized that only one minute had passed. There was still another 3 minutes remaining. It was driving them crazy.

"Remember that time... I wonder what ever happened to them?" Flunkie asked trying to distract himself.

Aladuf pasued to think before he responded, "That was gruesom, I think they were able to identify some pieces of them. Not 100% sure. Didn't care then. Don't care now."

They returned to their personal silence. As the seconds hand on the clock seemed to be frozen in place, they had no idea what to do.

As the clock began to drive them crazy, they started to notice the small creeks and cracks in their apartment. They rushed to try and fix up the place as best as possible. Covering a hole here, sweeping there or dumping in a closet. It was the best they could do in such short notice. Why had they never realized how terrible this place looked until now.

Just when they were getting into the groove of fixing up their place, there came a knock on the door it may as well have been lightning striking. The two men stood paralyzed by the sound. Neither wanted to move, but both wanted to answer the door.

Then came a second, louder knock on the door. This one knocked them out of their paralysis as they both rushed toward the door.

They swung it open, and there he was. Standing in front of the door, "May I come in?" They stepped aside so that he could enter and shut the door behind him.
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"Hey! That man..." before she could finish her sentence the theft was gone. She looked around stunned at what just happened. She was always so careful, but he came out of nowhere and disappeared just as quickly.
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He rose out of his coffin. From the corner of his eye, he could still see daylight breaking.
"It is too early for me." He went back into his slumber.
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"Master! Master! News from the outside."
"What is it my most loyal of apprentices?"
"It seems like the heroes Alpha and The Dude have been killed."
"That is excellent news. It seems like our plan is progressing nicely."
"Indeed master. Shall I inform the others?"
"Not yet. Let's have this play out a little more. I shall wait for the fall of the angel before we make our presence known."
"Very well master. I will keep you informed."
"Thank you. And your place in the new regime has already been determined. Now leave me to rest."
"As you wish Master."